I loaded mine up with a lot of stuff without noticeable change. Solar panel, self steering, 90L fuel, 160L water, food for 3 months cloths, charts and everything needed for a years voyage. I was surprised it even fit into the boat. The move from fresh to salt water helped.

I have repaired small areas by drilling holes in the deck and injecting glue, but if your plywood is damp that will not bond properly. Somewhere on this website is a thread that shows someone removing the liner and plywood from the inside and then replacing it. If you are just day sailing, then it is probably best to just leave it. It does not seem economical to fix it considering the cost of buying a better used Contessa.

Do not forget about the dodger if you have one. My boom is close to mine. I do not see any other problem with lowering the boom down the track. Mine is held down with a pin that goes across the track. There are several holes to choose from.

When I was at the San Francisco boat show I asked several manufacturers who's gear mounted pole like similiar to capehorn about mounting off center. Some said "no, there are problems when the boat heels". Some said "no problem we just put on a longer paddle." They should know best, but they also have a conflict of interest. In the end I went with a center mounted Monitor.

I had a very small float that was useless. To retrieve the chute I had to lead the rope back to a jib winch in the cockpit and winch in 225 feet. But I would have been happy even if I had to cut it loose. When people climb out of a raft into the rescue ship and watch the raft float away, they do not think, "oh no I am losing expensive my raft", they are happily thinking, " that thing worked great and saved my life, I am going to buy another". Same with the chute. Its nice to get it back, but really it can be thought as a one-time-use disposable life saving item.

I am not sure if the paratech design has changed. I bought mine in 2002 and bought the one suggested in their chart showing boat displacement vs chute diameter. Make sure you have something to present chafing of the rope where it touches the chocks.

I tried main (3 reefs) in tight, headsail sheeted tight to windward and rudder half over. It worked ok, but the boat headed up to about 40 deg and then fell off to about 60 deg. There was nothing wrong with that, but I found that the boat was more stable with the storm jib sheeted tight and the boat pinched up to the point that the sail did not flog, but the boat just made speed for minimal steerage. There was no chafing due to the jib sheet touching the windward shroud. The boat pointed closer to the waves and more consistently. In this configuration there was also less sail area. I can see the Pardey main sail only working well as long as it does not fall off too much or round up to the point of flogging. Definitely worth experimenting. But do that when the conditions are bad enough to give valid results but before the conditions are too bad. The other thing I carried and used once is a sea anchor parachute from Para-tech. I got caught is a gale in the gulf stream on the way to Bermuda. It was a wind against current situation that produced 30 ft waves. The chute kept the nose directly into the waves for 36 hours.

I saw your pics on your website. The refit looks good. I read your FAQ page and thought I should pass along a few tips I learned on my voyages.- An indoor head is next to useless at sea but still very useful in harbour. Especially at a crowded dock.- While you may be intending on anchoring out to save costs, there are many places where that is not an option. Many places do not have sheltered bays, only harbours and there may be no place to anchor in the harbour. Other places like Horta have nice docks and still charge you to anchor out even though anchorage is terrible there. Meeting new people is one of the great things about voyaging (especially solo) and if everyone is docked...- Do not rely on flying fish as a source of food. I only got them close to the equator and they were generally too small to eat. The larger ones quickly flopped back in the water or made it clear across the boat.- An extra pump at the sink that is connected to a thru-hull is useful. You can pump seawater to rinse dishes and save fresh water without having to go outside and risk your life or the bucket by trying to dip for water while sailing at full speed.- Others have told me that gathering rainwater is only practical with long showers with little wind. Most rain heavy enough to try to collect comes with enough wind to make it next to impossible.- GPS can be a great tool other than just blindly following a line on the screen. It can tell you the current/tidal flow, alarm with you anchor drags, show the direction the boat is travelling not just where it is pointing. Sometimes you want to know exactly where you are. A day old fix would not have helped me when I has trying to enter the Straits of Gibraltar at exactly the right time to avoid 5 knot currents or approaching New York in fog while staying in the exclusion zone between the shipping lanes.- An AIS receiver is a useful tool to avoid getting run down. Much cheaper than radar.- Thieves on land or in an anchorage want to get away quickly and do not want to leave empty handed, so have a cheap bottle of booze and a second wallet handy. The wallet has lots of singles, expired credit and AAA cards.- I found that rather than heaving-to, it was better to set the storm jib, pull it in tight and pinch up until you are just moving. This keeps the boat stable and the nose into the waves.- Be flexible on your food. Each country has different things available. Many places, especially small out of the way places do not have any process foods (canned soup, sauces) only what we think of as ingredients.- Paint the boats name on both sides at the bow. Other boaters will identify you mainly by your boat name. (ie The new guy in Maxed out. Drop by Maxed out for drinks at 4) and it is very hard to walk down a dock and find a boat with the name hidden on the stern. If people dingy through the anchorage they only have a 50 - 50 change of finding you. Of course it helps when you tell them you are the smallest boat. They remember that.

Here is a pic of a modification I made. I was worried that if I hit bottom with a bit of wave bouncing the boat, the cotter pin would shear and the rudder get pushed up and off. So I bolted an L bracket to the transom to prevent the rudder from moving upward. Now at worst, the bottom piece of the rudder will snap off leaving you still having steering.

Here is another way to save money. You are going to need many courtesy flags. They normally cost $20 to $40 each. I found a guy that was selling 12" x 18" flags on a 2 ft stick for about $5 each. Same idea as a desk flag but bigger. They are silkscreened on to thin cloth and start fraying after a month, but you do not need them to last long. Just remove the stick and sew on a length of 1/8" rope. Should be able to get them at a good flag store.

I have used Bellingham Chart Printers (Tidesend) about 12 years ago. No problems. Since the US does not copyright their charts they are allowed to photocopy them. They sell black and white copies on heavy paper. You can save a ton of money. You can buy individual charts or groups ( ie all charts for new york to florida) and save even more. They also sell the originals.

My scanmar monitor setup has cheek block on the cockpit combing. The attached picture was taken before the center chain was attached and the lines are just looped over the tiller. The cheek block are angled so they are lined up with the output pulley on the monitor. The output side of the cheek block is pointed at the tiller attachment point. In operation the tiller does not move that much off center so the angle does not change much and there is no chafe. I have 11,000nm on it and the only chafe has been at the blocks on the lower end of the monitor. I believe this was caused because I had to much tension on the lines. Whatever you do, use good low friction pulleys.

I have never heard of one on a Contessa. With the Contessa's long keel and low windage, I do not think that is required. I have been on a drogue and at anchor in some good blows and have not had a problem with skating. If you are anchored in a current you can use your self steering gear to keep you straight.

Make sure you are not going to pull the pin out with the cunningham. Some just have a cotter pin on the bottom. On mine, the hole in the pin is enlarged and a clevis goes through it. Rather than use the same loop for reefing, attach one end of another short rope to the hole in the neck and use it to reef. It is always there attached to the boom and when you remove the reef the original tack loop is already there still in place and correctly adjusted. I have three ropes. As I take out each reef the previous reef is still in place and ready to go.

Mine is mounted under the floor board in the V-berth cut-out area. It is near the aft and on the side. It reads very similar on both tacks and it can not be damaged since there is usually nothing stored there unlike under the quarter berths.

My preventer is home made. It is a canvas and webbing loop that goes around the boom. (loose footed main) Ropes run from there to a pulley at the rail just aft of the shrouds and then back to a cleat in the cockpit. Just pull in the lee side rope and secure. Manual and simple.

Do you have pin stops for safety on the traveller as well as control tackles on the car? If the control tackle comes free under load and there is anyone in the way of the car, a serious injury is likely.

Mine has no pin stops other than the ends, only the control tackles. Being single handed I am never sitting near the traveller. I also use a gybe preventer. Even one extra person in the cockpit and its a whole different story as far as the desirability of a mid cockpit traveller.

I installed a traveller just forward of the cockpit lockers. It works great,. But... Its a bit of a hassle to step over all the time. It reduces seating. Two spots available rather than three. When you are off the wind then the sheet gets in the way of the forward lee seat unless the traveller car is eased to lee. These problems are not a big issue to me since I am single handed, but I you are two people then they become an issue and if you are three or more then it is a huge hassle.

Not recommended if you have a genoa furler as it can kink the foil if the spinnaker fills with a bang.

Every sailmaker's instructions for flying one loose with just a tack line say to get the tack line turning block on a strong point as far forward as possible.

I'd look at getting an eye big enough to attach a block with a swivel snap shackle welded to the top edge of the bow roller port side plate.

Yes, the forestay - its been a long winter.I forget that not everyone is still living in the past with traditional clip on sails.Someone sells a special sleeve to protect the furler and allow the tack to slide.